What is a cash flow waterfall?

A cash flow waterfall is a bar chart that walks from operating cash flow through capital expenditure to free cash flow, then shows how the remaining cash is allocated — acquisitions, buybacks, dividends, debt, and other financing — ending at the net change in cash. Each step is colour-coded: green bars add to the running total, red bars subtract.

How does NIKE (NKE) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q2 2026, NIKE generated $2.87B of operating cash flow and $2.18B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 76.2% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did NIKE (NKE) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent NIKE's shareholder returns for TTM through Q2 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

NIKE (NKE) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.87B

Capex

-$684M

Free Cash Flow

$2.18B

FCF Margin

+76.2%

Cash flow waterfall for NIKE (NKE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Free cash flow: $2.18B

Cash flow breakdown for NIKE (NKE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.87B	$2.87B
Capital Expenditure	-$684M	$2.18B
Free Cash Flow	$2.18B	$2.18B
Other Investing	$196M	$2.38B
Share Buybacks	-$418M	$1.96B
Dividends Paid	-$2.41B	-$446M
Other Financing & FX	$545M	$99M
Net Cash Increase	$99M	$99M

Operating Cash Flow$2.87B
Capital Expenditure-$684M
Free Cash Flow$2.18B
Other Investing$196M
Share Buybacks-$418M
Dividends Paid-$2.41B
Other Financing & FX$545M
Net Cash Increase$99M

Want to see what drove the FCF change?Free Cash Flow Bridge

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

NIKE (NKE) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

NKE Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

How this company returns cash to shareholders — buybacks, dividends, and stock splits.

Forecast & Valuation